For this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football, we have two NFC teams with disappointing 2-4 starts.
The Arizona Cardinals host the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 as Kyler Murray and Co. look to get back on track now that star receiver DeAndre Hopkins is set to return. The Saints will start Andy Dalton at quarterback for this contest, and they’re dealing with a hellish number of injuries right now. Will they be able to overcome or will they succumb?
Which of these two teams will fall within a .500 game and which will drop even further in the standings? We will find out soon enough. In the meantime, here’s how you can watch the game on Thursday night.
How to watch
Date: Thursday, October 20 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
Stream: Amazon Prime Video
Follow: CBS Sports app
Odds: Cardinals -2, O/U 44 (Courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook)
When the Saints have the ball
The name of the game here is wounds. The Saints will be without wide receivers Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry, tight end Adam Trautman and guard Andrus Peat, and that’s in addition to widening Deonte Harty joining tackle Trevor Penning on injured reserve.
Dennis Allen waited until late Thursday afternoon to name a starting quarterback after saying Wednesday it would be a game-time decision. The expectation is that Dalton will be under center.
We know Alvin Kamara will be heavily involved. We know Mark Ingram II will meddle in the ground. We know that Chris Olave, expected back from the concussion that kept him out of New Orleans’ Week 6 game, will get all the work he can handle in the passing game. Beyond that, however, anyone’s guess – at least from the Saints’ perspective.
But we also know that the Cardinals defense was sensitive to almost everything opposing attacks threw at them, but especially passing. The Cardinals are 24th in DVOA pass defense at Football Outsiders, 28th in midfield shots, 29th in short passing and 32nd in passing to running backs. All of this points to a potentially big receiving game for Kamara, who has had six catches in each of the past two games after only making five in his first two games combined.
When the Cardinals have the ball
Arizona’s offense is very changeable right now.
Marquise Brown has been Kyler Murray’s top target this season but he’s now out for an extended period after injuring his foot during insignificant play in last week’s game. Center Rodney Hudson is out and guard Justin Pugh is now on injured reserve. Running back James Conner is listed as questionable but hasn’t practiced all week, and Darrel Williams is out.
DeAndre Hopkins is back from his suspension but hasn’t been in the establishment since preseason either. The Cardinals traded for Robbie Anderson earlier this week, but it’s highly unlikely he’s fully aware of the offense just yet. Eno Benjamin looks likely to lead the backfield again, and Rondale Moore and Zach Ertz appear to be heavily involved as close-range targets for Murray – who may need to target those areas more often due to the various issues along the way. the offensive line.
The Cardinals have been a big disappointment on offense so far this season. Part of that is attributable to Hopkins’ absence. Part of it is due to injuries suffered by the team. But a lot of it comes down to the team’s offensive plan, which either doesn’t exist or is just “Kyler, go do something” all too often. Kliff Kingsbury had in the past shown his ability to carve his way into an effective running game by extending the field and putting his back to the north and south, but even that was abandoned this year. Meanwhile, the passing game has been staggered all year. With the exception of the rooms where Murray does magic, things have been ugly.
New Orleans’ defense wasn’t as disappointing as Arizona’s offense, but it certainly didn’t live up to expectations. The Saints rank only 18th in defensive DVOA, 21st against the pass and 14th against the run. They’re 19th in yards per play, 20th in yards per drive, and 15th in EPA per play. This team needs the defense to be an elite unit, and that’s only been average so far.
Losing Marcus Williams at the back didn’t help, but he’s also an older unit now. Guys like Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, Tyrann Mathieu and more are still quality starters, just not as good as they have been in recent seasons. (And Mathieu hasn’t been good at times this year.) That little error matters when the margin for error is as small as it is for the Saints right now. They will need to increase the pressure rate against Murray while not allowing him to break containment to have defensive success in this game.
Featured Game | Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints
Prediction: Cardinals 23, Saints 17
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